She is briefly mentioned in the chronicle of
Michael Panaretos. Following the death of Manuel "at his exhortation and choice, his son by the empress the lady Anna Xylaloe, the lord Andronikos Komnenos, succeeded to the throne and reigned for three years. And he died in 6774 [AD 1266]." She is the only one of Manuel's three wives Panaretos gives the title of "Empress". Anna is assumed to have been the first of three wives of Manuel, married to him c. 1235. Her only known son,
Andronikos II of Trebizond, preceded his half-siblings
George, Emperor of Trebizond,
John II of Trebizond and
Theodora of Trebizond on the throne. For this reason Andronikos is considered to have been their elder. Manuel had at least two daughters whose mother is not mentioned. They could be children by Anna or another of his wives. One of the daughters married
Demetre II of Georgia, the other married one of his Didebul. Though mentioned in modern genealogies as a name, "Didebul" was actually a title which Christopher Buyers defines as "non-hereditary noblemen of high rank, senior to
aznaur, usually enjoyed by one in state service". Kuršanskis believes that the Trapezuntine embassy Manuel sent to King
Louis IX of France in 1253, asking to marry a daughter of his house, provides a
terminus post quem for the death of Anna Xylaloe. When King Louis declined the alliance, Kuršanskis argues Manuel then married
Irene Syrikaina. ==References==